About Me
I am a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Chicago Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice, and an Institute of Education Sciences (IES) Pre-Doctoral Fellow in Education Sciences. My research examines how organizations, workers, and families respond to changing policy and institutional environments, with a particular focus on organizational adaptation, early childhood education, child care policy, and the early childhood workforce.
I hold a Master’s in Public Policy from the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and a Master’s in Economics from Universidad del Pacífico in Lima, Peru. I bring more than ten years of professional research experience designing and implementing program evaluations in Peru and the United States. My work has spanned human services, education, and early childhood systems, and I have held leadership roles on interdisciplinary research teams, contributing to the design, implementation, analysis, and dissemination of mixed-methods studies.
My methodological training includes economics, econometrics, longitudinal analysis, quasi-experimental methods, and mixed-methods research. My quantitative experience includes administrative data analysis, probabilistic record linkage, statistical modeling, and program evaluation, including methods for examining how policy interventions shape organizational and workforce outcomes. My qualitative experience includes developing research instruments and analytic codebooks, conducting interviews, focus groups, classroom observations, and member-checking activities, and leading qualitative analysis using ATLAS.ti and Dedoose. I also develop interactive dashboards, maps, and HTML reports using R, Stata, SAS, Python, and SQL.
Across my research, I am committed to producing rigorous, methodologically diverse evidence that is accessible and actionable for policy and practice.
Awards, Research, and Teaching
Awards and Honors
I have received competitive fellowships and grants supporting my research and professional development, including the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Minority Dissertation Fellowship in Education Research, the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) Pre-Doctoral Training Program in Education Sciences, and the Professional Development Grant for Emerging Scholars Studying Poverty, Economic Well-Being, and Early Care and Education from the National Research Center on Hispanic Children & Families. I was also awarded dissertation research funding from the Russell Sage Foundation, with additional support from the Washington Center for Equitable Growth. I earned a Master’s in Public Policy with honors from the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy.
Research Experience
I bring more than ten years of professional research experience spanning Peru and the United States. I have designed and led applied research and program evaluations in early childhood education, human services, and family well-being, often serving in leadership roles on interdisciplinary teams and collaborating with researchers, public agencies, community organizations, and policy and practice partners. My experience spans study design and protocols, instrument development, qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis, administrative data, and translating research findings into actionable reports, dashboards, presentations, and other products for funders, policymakers, and practitioners. My methodological training includes economics, econometrics, longitudinal analysis, quasi-experimental methods, and mixed-methods research, with experience using R, Stata, SAS, Python, SQL, ATLAS.ti, and Dedoose.
Teaching Experience
I have taught at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. At the University of Chicago Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice, I have served as instructor of record for Data for Policy Analysis and Management and Political Processes in Policy Formulation and Implementation, as well as teaching assistant for The Social Meaning of Race. At Universidad del Pacífico in Lima, Peru, I taught Social Project Assessment and Introduction to Microeconomics and served as a teaching assistant for courses in economics, international trade, and social project assessment. My teaching combines analytical rigor, practical application, and active student engagement, with a particular interest in helping students develop the methodological and analytical skills needed to address complex policy and organizational questions.